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Rafael Nadal drops hint about withdrawing from Bastad after winning four-hour match
Rafael Nadal overcame Mariano Navone at the Bastad Open after nearly four hours on court in Sweden.
Rafael Nadal has indicated he could be forced to withdraw from the Bastad Open after prevailing in a four-hour marathon against Mariano Navone on Friday. The tennis icon made it through to his first semi-final in any competition since 2022, but he was forced to dig deep to overcome the fourth seed Navone, who took him all the way in their quarter-final tie.
The 38-year-old was on court for nearly four hours on the Swedish coast as Navone refused to back down, recovering from a double break in the final set before the legendary Spaniard sealed a 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 success. It was his second-longest ATP three-set match of his career, only dwarfed by his thriller against Novak Djokovic in 2009.